Lily Marlowe; 1970s era vampire

LILY MARLOWE

Real Name: Lily Marlowe

Identity/Class: Human vampire;
pre-modern era (circa 1975) and possibly the modern era (see comments);
US citizen

Occupation: Predator, prostitute

Group Membership: Vampires of Earth;

Affiliations: Lawrence Blasco;
formerly Burt Johnson

Enemies: Burt Johnson;
`numerous unidentified victims (first victim; another victim; see comments)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Baby," "honey," "vampiress"

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
at least formerly Chicago, Illinois

First Appearance: Vampire Tales I#9/4 (February, 1975)

Powers/Abilities: As a vampire, Lily presumably had superhuman strength (typically enhanced human) and required regular blood meals to survive.

When fully fed, she could likely heal rapidly from non-fatal wounds.

Further, feeding on a human victim would turn that victim into a vampire, depending on the extent of the feeding and other circumstances.

Those she vampirized would likely have been subserviant to her.

She could transform from human to bat form (in which she could fly) at will.
It is unrevealed whether she could mesmerize others with his gaze (unlikely given her neophyte status, but perhaps later if she was revived (see comments).

She was certainly vulnerable to religious icons (exposure to a cross immobilized and weakened him to the point of unconsciousness) and a wooden stake through the heart.

She presumably had the standard vampire vulnerabilties, including sunlight and garlic.

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 5'6")
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 120 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (they looked to be dark, at least, in the black and white comic)
Hair: Black or dark brown

History:

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) - As a prostitute under pimp Burt Johnson, Lily was one of his best workers, although she did have a history of drinking heavily upon occasion.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) <1975> - Lily met a lonely man from out of town, brought him back to her professional apartment, and conducted business, unaware she was being watched by the vampire Lawrence Blasco.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 (fb) - BTS) - Blasco conceived of a plan to vampirize Lily, so he could feed on her customers in private.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) - Blasco met with Lily, who was intrigued with finally meeting a "Limey," (slang for Englishman) and he agreed to meet with her in private. However, back in her room, Lily was surprised to find herself entranced in Blasco's gaze, his eyes "so dark -- yet so bright! They're gripping me! I can't turn from them..." Ignoring her pleas to release her, Blasco drank her blood via biting her jugular vein, and she felt a strange, subtle pleasure fused with pain. His thirst quenched, Blasco returned to bat-form and flew away.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 (fb) - BTS) - When Lily didn't return to the streets, Burt checked out her apartment and found her very weak and tired, unable to remember what had happened to her. He initially suspected she had been "hitting the sauce again," but when she insisted she was just tired and weak, he appreciated that she looked kind of pale and figured she might have caught a virus. He sent her home to get some rest, as "you can't sell damaged goods."

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 (fb) - BTS) - Initially weakened, three days later, Lily revived and was reinvigorated as a vampire. She returned to work, and Burt considered her a trouper for bouncing back so quickly.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) - Lily met with her first customer since her transformation, clarifying she wasn't free tonight...but she was available. After she found a room with her customer, she responded to a compliment about her being lovely, telling him "I know, I take vitamins for it!" However, his desire turned to terror as she firmly grasped his throat, and she instructed him not to struggle, but to relax, let it happen, and feel the gentle, soothing warmth of my consuming kiss!" As she quenched her thirst, Blasco -- who had watched and followed her in bat form -- entered the room via the window. He instructed Lily to go far away, out in public, so she avoid suspicion by being nowhere near him at the time of his death. After Lilly's departure, Blasco fatally drained the man and then fled again in bat-form.

In the ensuing days, the pattern repeated itself, with Lily departing after subduing her customer and having an alibi as being out on the street when he died from blood loss at the fangs of Blasco. Although an alcoholic homeless man had spotted the victim with a woman, the police dismissed investigating that as the woman had been long gone before the man perished.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 - BTS) - Mystified and frustrated, the police futilely sought the "psycho runnin' loose in the city."

Having recognized the man who died as a man Lily had been with, Burt Johnson became suspicious.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) - Burt questioned Lily, but she assured him the man had left after their encounter (see comments) and she didn't know what had happened thereafter.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 - BTS) - Certain Lily was lying but unable to prove it, Burt resolved to keep tabs on her.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) - After Lily had taken her customer to a room, presumably unaware that Burt was trailing her, Burt watched as the bat-form of Blasco flew into the room in which Lily had taken her customer. Blasco was aware of Johnson witnessing his arrival and his suspicions, Blasco plotted to lead Burt into a trap.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 - BTS) - When Lily flew out of the room minutes later in bat form, Burt assumed it was the same one as before and figured it might be a vampire bat; though he had no idea how Lily was fitting into this, he followed the bat to kill it to prevent his customers being killed.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 - BTS) - Meanwhile, Blasco followed Burt after finishing off his victim. When Burt followed the bat to find a recently disturbed coffin in the basement of an abandoned theater, he realized the bat was actually a vampire.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) - Sharpening a stake, Burt opened the coffin but was shocked to find Lily within, apparently in a resting trance.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 - BTS) - Blasco then made his presence known and explained his actions to Burt. Blasco pursued Burt, but the resourceful pimp eventually incapacitated Blasco by tying some strips of cloth across a stage lamp in the form on a cross. Burt then dragged Blasco back to the basement, where he stake both Lawrence and Lily and left them in the coffin.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) - As he departed the staked Lily and Blasco, Burt lamented that he would miss Lily as she was the best item in his stable.

Comments: Created by Larry Leiber and Jesus Blasco.

Lily told Burt her "trick" had left after they were done, but Blasco had typically finished off the victims after Lily had fed on them, and they never left the site of the transaction. I guess she wasn't taking them back to her apartment anymore, as if they all died in the same place, she would have been highly suspect regardless of whether she had departed long after her customer's death. Even if they were going to different places, her consistent presence would have been hard to deny. I guess it was just a simple plot for a short story, more of a concept not intended for such scrutiny.

This story was published in 1975 and has absolutely nothing to tie it to the modern era/sliding timescale...it fits nicely at the time of publication, and Dracula's OHotMU entry confirms the story to have occurred in the second half of the 20th century. The story specifically notes it to have been like 30 years after World War II.

All of the victims Lawrence fatally drained should also have revived as vampires...

The title of the story was "Blood Stalker!" That's not an alias used in the story, just most likely a descriptive title for the story.

Lily (and Lawrence) would presumably have been restored via the prophecy spell in Blade III#12 (see the profile on Lucas Cross).

"Hers was the oldest profession...his was the oldest curse!"

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Lily Marlowe should be distinguished from:

Lily's first victim

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) - Lily met with her first customer since her transformation, who asked her if she was free tonight, to which she clarified that she wasn't free...but she was available.

After Lily found a room with her customer, he told her she was "one lovely lady, " and she responded, "I know, I take vitamins for it!"

However, his desire turned to terror as she firmly grasped his throat, and he screamed for her to stop.

Lily instructed him not to struggle, but to relax, "let it happen, and feel the gentle, soothing warmth of my consuming kiss!"

As she quenched her thirst, Blasco -- who had watched and followed her in bat form -- entered the room via the window.

He instructed Lily to go far away, out in public, so she avoid suspicion by being nowhere near him at the time of his death. After Lilly's departure, Blasco fatally drained the man and then fled again in bat-form.

Police later investigated, finding that the man still had money with him, meaning that they could rule out robbery. They determined that he had been dead for 12 hours and had been killed without an apparent weapon and drained of blood. One of the detectives commented on the punctures near the jugular vein, but his partner told him, "Forget 'em! This is Chicago, not Transylvania!"

--Vampire Tales I#9/4

Note: All of the victims Lawrence fatally drained should also have revived as vampires.

Lily's second shown victim

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 (fb) - BTS) - Lily brought another victim to an apartment room, then drank his blood without finishing him off before allowing Blasco to take over.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4) - After Lily noted the man's rich blood, Blasco told her that she had chosen well and that he would savor every drop. He instructed her to depart so she would be elsewhere when he died.

When police investigated, one of them noted that a "wino had seen <the deceased> with a chick." However, he continued that, whoever she was, she was in the clear as she had to departed long before the man died.

(Vampire Tales I#9/4 - BTS) - Mystified and frustrated by another bloodless body and no suspects with the murder room locked from the inside, the police futilely sought the "psycho runnin' loose in the city."

--Vampire Tales I#9/4

Note: Lily told Blasco that this one had richer blood than their other victims, which would indicate that there was AT LEAST one more victim between the first victim and this guy.

All of the victims Lawrence fatally drained should also have revived as vampires.

images: (without ads)
Vampire Tales I#9/4, pg. 1 (acquiring a customer);
        pg. 3, panel 1 (face);
            panel 4 (bitten by Blasco);
        pg. 4, panel 1 (first victim, full, shadows);
            panel 4 (first victim, afraid);
            panel 5 (first victim, bitten);
        pg. 5, panel 3-4 (second shown victim);
        pg. 9, panel 6 (staked)

Appearances:
Vampire Tales I#9/4 (February, 1975) - Larry Leiber (writer), Jesus Blasco (artist), David Kraft (assistant editor), Marv Wolfman (editor)

First posted: 03/03/2018
Last updated: 03/03/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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